From the Cave of the Basilisk
by twighunter
Summary: She emerged from the basilisk’s cave disorientated and frightened. She was Ginny Weasley, a first year student at Hogwarts and she had to tell Dumbledore the whole Tom Riddle thing was her fault..what she doesn't know is that a dozen years have passed sin


She emerged from the basilisk's cave disorientated and frightened. The kind of fright that leaves your stomach swirling and your head aching. To any onlooker - of which there was none save the dust – it was a terrible thing to witness; an exceedingly thin red-haired woman emerge from a dark hole oozing with unidentifiable bones. It would have been even more terrible to know that the world this young woman was stepping into was unrecognizable from the one she had been torn from. Worse still was that she did not know any of this nor did she know of the reputation she currently had in the wizarding world. In the new order she was known as 'black widow', but among the hundred or so good wizards left she was known only as 'Betrayer'.

She was weak and the flagstones beneath her feet were cold. She remembered the last few minutes very well. Tom grinning down at her, mumbling "what a great trick!" underneath his breath and molding something with his hands and setting it down. She remembered that and then nothing. Oh Merlin! She thought, I must tell Harry and Ron that it was me doing all those horrible things all along. She hurried along down the dark tunnel, clambering over piles of stones and more skeletons, shuddering all the way, as she neared the entrance she breathed out harshly. Dumbledore would fix all this and it would all be over. Maybe she would get expelled, but she deserved it for being so idiotic. She stumbled over her feet and looked at them, appalled. They were a couple sizes bigger than she remembered, and her legs were longer too! He must have cast a sizing charm on me, she thought, hurrying along again. To what end he did that, she didn't know, but maybe he had another………

She jolted, completely flummoxed. She had emerged onto a huge grassy area that looked right down onto…Her stomach plummeted. The lake, the Hogwarts lake, but what had happened to Hogwarts? It was nowhere to be seen, but it had been right here! Right here where she was standing! She was sure of it! The forbidden forest was right over there and Hagrid's cabin….Hagrid's cabin wasn't anywhere either! She let out a sound, the beginning of a pathetic keening sound. Where was everybody? The wind softly blew over the long grass, only emphasizing the loneness of the place.

She stared over the ridge and spotted Hogsmeade. She would have to go there and ask what had happened. She began to trudge determinedly down the hill, towards the a footpath that would lead to Hogsmeade. As she began her way down the path she noticed something curious, it looked like it hadn't been trod on at all, at least not for many years. There was grass growing all over it and nettled bushes that must have once been meticulously pruned grew wildly, sometimes completely overwhelming the path. She dug her nails into her palms, hoping the pain would jar some courage into her body. She hoped she wouldn't get into even more trouble for going to Hogsmeade alone. She was only eleven and wouldn't even be allowed to go in for weekend visits until her third year.

The usual signs lining the path advertising sweets and broomstick cleaners were gone, or completely decrepit. The charm to make a bubble blow out at you from a bubble gum advertisement had stopped mid blow, leaving a miniscule pink bubble hanging in mid air. Her head started to pound, they were charmed to last three years until they needed re-charming. She soon arrived into the village and looked around curiously, it looked dark and grey compared to what her brothers had said it was like.

The streets were sparse and several signs of shops advertised things she was certain were completely illegal. She started as she saw a huge moving picture of two wizards dueling plastered over one shop's window, on the bottom it said in large curling green words, Zorgafester's Premiere Wands. She trotted down the rather eery street, unaware of the pairs of eyes looking at her from the second story windows. She curiously looked at a banner prominently strung between two very loud taverns – finally! People who could tell her what was going on- and backed up a few steps, her hands over her mouth.

The Day of the fall of Harry Potter. Celebrate with us!

She closed her eyes and opened them again and promptly screamed very loudly, and backed away. What had happened? Where was she and where were her brothers, her family. Where was Harry Potter? Where was Dumbledore? She looked wildly around the street and started as suddenly, one of the doors of the tavern burst open and a party of people burst out, talking and laughing hysterically.

They stopped when they saw Ginny, her eyes wide open as she stared at them. A man at the front chirped up excitedly, his drink splashing over his wrist. "Oi! You're that Black Widow aren't you! The one who brought that fucking Potter down! You're dead though! Died about the same time Voldemort went berserk on us and killed himself! Wow, Lord Dragon will be bloody interested to see your arse about the place again! Tell me, what was his face like – Potter's I mean – when you led him into the ambush? To see his own wife betray him?"

A knife ripped through her heart, shredding everything. This wasn't what it was.

Dear Reviewers

To all of you that have read this before

Dreadfully sorry about the one big paragraph

Not my fault

This bloody site (which I can't name because it will delete the name) isn't capable of anything

Love twighunter


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